Jackson Overland & the Olympians: Search for the Saber
by Aurora Mandeville
Summary: Jackson Overland finds out that he and his friends Flynn and Katherine are demigods. But things turn topsy-turvy as they are attacked by monsters, find out there's a prophecy about them and other demigods, and that they have to find several relics to save the camp. But will the group work together long enough to save the camp, or will evil prevail? (Catrina is La Muerte)
1. Going to Camp

Jack opened and closed his mouth several times before any words finally came out, "I-I'm a-a wh-what?"

"A demigod, a child of a mortal and a deity, in your case, Boreas," stated the bald man, or, nearly bald except for that single curl on his forehead, sitting across from him.

"Manny, we don't know if his godly parent is Boreas, it could very well be Khione," stated the elderly man sitting next to him.

Manny glanced at him, "They let me look at his file, Ombric, his mother is noted to have mentioned something about the boy's father perhaps coming for him. And we have seen his powers firsthand, definitely a son of Boreas. Besides, Khione is not exactly known to have fallen in love with anyone, she most certainly is the Snow Queen, cold and heartless. I can't imagine this fine boy being her son, he has more heart than she ever did."

Ombric nodded, "You have a point, Boreas will no doubt claim him not long after arriving at camp."

"Wait, you guys actually want me to go with you to some camp I've never heard of?" Jack asked incredulously. The two men glanced at him in surprise.

"But of course! You are not safe here, the monsters will eventually find you, putting you and all the other orphans here at risk! At least at camp, you will learn how to fight monsters and protect everyone," replied Ombric.

Jack scoffed, "Flynn and Katherine would be more interested in that, not me."

"Then it's a good thing I'm adopting all three of you." Jack glanced up at Manny who had a smirk on his face.

"You, you're adopting all three of us?"

Manny nodded, "All three of you are demigods. A rare find, but one we must act upon quickly. They would not leave without you, hence this conversation." Jack ran his fingers through his white hair, the object of many a stare and jab.

"How-how do you know they're demigods? I mean, I understand how you would think that way about me, but why them?"

Manny leaned forward in his chair, "Because I was given the power to sense it, but so can all of the monsters, and if I have been able to find you . . ."

Jack's eyes widened, "Then so can the monsters." He half rose from his seat, "Can a monster take on human form?" Manny nodded slowly before sharing a glance with Ombric. All three were now thinking of the same thing as Jack jumped from his chair and dashed out to the hall.

"Jack, wait!" shouted Ombric, but Jack's first thought was of getting to his friends. It was all making sense now, though it was still kind of hard to swallow, it was beginning to make sense. Though Flynn was good at keeping away from people, Jack was really the one who could fight, and most people did in fact stay away because of his freezing powers. Everyone, that is, except for Flynn and Katherine. Subconsciously they knew, they all knew, they had to look out for each other without ever really knowing why. Well, now they knew, at least, Jack knew, and only he could effectively fight the monsters. He tore through the rest of the orphanage and out the back door. He paused, the biggest kid of them all was beating up Flynn while another held Katherine back in a tight squeeze.

"Leave them alone!" yelled Jack as tendrils of ice shot from his fingers. The ice from his right hand smashed into the face of the kid holding Katherine, causing him to release her, while the ice from his left hand rammed into the thigh of the kid beating up Flynn. Katherine ran to Jack. "Go inside to Manny and Ombric!" he told her before rushing forward to help Flynn. An unnatural shriek met their ears as the two kids seemed to morph right in front of their eyes. All the other orphans ran from the scene screaming as the two kids turned into a humanoid creature with just one eye while the third member of their party, a girl, seemed to grow fangs.

"Cyclops! Empousa!" yelled Ombric to Manny before rushing out to help Jack and Flynn, his staff pendant growing into a full sized staff. It made contact with one Cyclops before it rammed into the stomach of the other. The empousa charged Jack as he tried to help Flynn get to Manny. He sent a wave of snow in her direction, the cold stuff piling on top of her. Manny handed Jack a sword as soon as Flynn was over the threshold.

"What . . ."

"It's the only way to destroy them," replied Manny. Nodding, Jack took the sword and slashed through the empousa on his way back to Ombric. She melted into dust as he tackled first one Cyclops, and then the other. It was over in a matter of minutes, all that was left of the action were three little piles of dust being swept away by the wind and a quickly melting pile of snow. "Jack! Ombric! We need to get Flynn to camp, now!" Ombric raced back to the door, his staff shrinking as he moved. He helped Manny get Flynn between them and half-dragged, half-supported him to the car, Jack and Katherine right behind them. The five managed to get into the car and, with Ombric at the wheel, sped off through the countryside. When they got to the city, Jack gasped as he noticed the cars around them seemed almost at a standstill while they themselves could have easily been going a hundred miles over the speed limit.

"What? How?"

"Ombric can manipulate time, but we only use it in times of emergency, like this. Keep Flynn, cool, Jack, we're almost there." Jack put his hand up to Flynn's forehead, he was heating up fast, and the speed they were traveling at probably wasn't much help. Jack had no idea how long it took, it could have been hours, it could have been mere minutes, but they had finally arrived at Camp Guardian. Ombric brought the car slowly to a stop in front of a cabin that looked like it was trying to be a golden hospital. While the other three gingerly got Flynn out of the car, Ombric dashed to the cabin doors and knocked. A girl who looked to be about Katherine's age opened the door.

"Why, Ombric, what is it?" She caught sight of Flynn behind him being supported by Jack and Manny. "Oh, quick, bring him in!" Ombric held the door so they could get Flynn through without putting too much strain on his already aching body. Jack noticed the girl had long, golden hair as he and Manny followed her through the makeshift hospital to a bed. "Here, lay him down gently. Somebody get me some ambrosia and cold water, quick!" A couple of teens dashed off in search of the ambrosia and cold water while the girl got Flynn comfortable and checked his wounds. "What did this?"

"Cyclops," muttered Ombric solemnly. The girl glanced at him shock before turning back to Flynn as he gasped in pain.

"Oh no, there isn't much time. Please, stand back." She wrapped some of her hair around his head and his chest, and began to sing. Jack's nerves seemed to relax with every word, even more so the instant he noticed Flynn's bruises and wounds fade away. The girl took a shaky step back when she finished the song, Flynn looked as good as new and sleeping rather peacefully. Jack stepped forward to help the girl around the bed. "Oh, thank you, I'm fine."

"Hey, you just saved my best friend's life, it's the least I could do."

She smiled at him, then gasped, "Why, you're injured!" Jack glanced at where she was looking at, his right shoulder had a good gash running down it. At that moment the two teens returned with something Jack figured was the ambrosia along with the water. The girl promptly steered Jack to the next bed, sat him down, and tended to his wound. She popped a piece of ambrosia into his mouth before cleaning his wound and bandaging it up. "Alright, there, you can at least go out and make yourself presentable, but I expect you to take things easy, no lifting swords or any other heavy objects until I say so, is that clear, Mister?"

"I'm Jack Overland, and that was perfectly clear," he grinned.

The girl smiled back, "Glad to hear that. Pleasure to meet you Jack, I'm Rapunzel Bennett."

"Rapunzel, eh, like the fairy tale?" asked Jack as he gave a quick, knowing glance at Katherine.

The smile instantly turned forced, "Yes." Katherine unexpectedly gave a little squeak, well, Jack was certainly expecting it, everyone else just glanced at her in surprise.

She gave a little bounce, "I love fairy tales! I've always wanted to write a few of my own! And maybe even go collect others like the Grimm brothers did! I think it's really cool you're named after a princess! It could only mean that you'll have good luck as a demigod!" Manny and Ombric started chuckling.

Rapunzel, still somewhat shocked, replied with, "Wow, um, thank you, I certainly hope so."

"Well, good luck outside of getting teased for your name, right?" asked Jack.

Rapunzel swiveled to him with almost a glare in her eyes, "And what of it?"

Jack shrugged as he got up and fingered his hair, "You're not the only one who's been teased about something." Rapunzel blinked as Jack moved to where Manny, Ombric, and Katherine were standing. "So, will we get to see the rest of the camp? I want to be able to get a head's start for once on this guy," he stated, nodding his head in indication of Flynn. Katherine giggled.

"Why get a head's start on him?"

"Because he can figure out any place pretty quick, all the ins and outs, and I want to be able to find a place that I can keep my personal stuff safe from him for a while, at least." Manny's and Ombric's faces lit up with understanding.

"Ah, so he's a thief, I take it?" asked Ombric as he rubbed his beard.

"Uh, yeah," Katherine replied, glancing at Jack.

Manny nodded, "Then he's no doubt a son of Hermes, all thieves are. They sign up for spying on the enemy, and they certainly do a great job of it." He turned to Katherine, "Now all we have to do is figure out whose child you are, and we can get you settled in. But for now, we'll take you to Jack's cabin, and we can let his half-siblings show the two of you around." Manny and Ombric left the hospital cabin, followed not long after by Jack and Katherine who paused to thank Rapunzel again for saving their friend. Manny and Ombric led them to a cabin some ways away from where the hospital cabin sat, nearly on the outskirts of the cabin area, it seemed. This time Manny knocked, and the door was opened by an older teen with white hair much like Jack. He took one look at Jack and grinned.

"Guys, we've got another brother!" he shouted into the cabin. A few whoops answered him before a swarm of blondes and white-haired teens nearly ran him over to meet Jack. A shrill whistle made them all stop.

"I'm glad you're all enthusiastic about meeting your new brother and welcoming him to camp, however, he and his friends just barely escaped a couple of Cyclops and an empousa in order to get here. Please take it easy on them, and select one or two people to show them around the camp."

"Yes Mr. Manny!" chorused the children of Boreas.

"Good, thank you. We'll see you at dinner." He and Ombric left, making their way back to the car. The teen who answered the door ushered everyone into the cabin so that they could talk.

"So, you're a son of Boreas, huh?"

Jack laughed, "Apparently, it was pretty obvious with my white hair and, well, this." He let out a stream of white light, and it began to snow in the cabin. The others laughed.

"Well, that's a sure sign alright. Welcome to Cabin 29, home to the children of Boreas! I'm Basil Frost, head counselor of Cabin 29."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Frost, I'm Jack Overland," Jack stated as he shook hands with Basil.

"Really? Hey, we've got a Jack!"

A girl of about twelve snickered, "You should have his name, Basil, then you could be Jack Frost!"

"Oh come on, Sarah, that was the very reason why mom didn't name me Jack."

Jack chuckled, "That's OK, I get called Jack Frost a lot anyway."

"Great, then we can adopt you!"

"Sarah, he already he is our half-brother, we don't need to adopt him."

"Besides, Mr. Manny already did that," remarked Katherine. The children of Boreas glanced at the only brunette in the whole room.

"Who's your godly parent?" asked Sarah.

Katherine shivered slightly as she shrugged, "Don't know yet, Mr. Manny and Mr. Ombric couldn't quite figure it out. I guess it's not as obvious as Jack with his snow powers or Flynn with his thieving."

"Oh, you have another friend? Where is he?" asked Sarah.

"A child of Hermes if I ever heard one," muttered Basil.

"He's at the hospital cabin, the Cyclops did a good number on him before I could intervene."

Basil winced, "Ouch, I hate dealing with those guys, despite the fact that we're the best ones to handle them. Is your friend doing alright?"

"Yeah, Rapunzel used her glowing hair to really heal him."

"Wow, he really got it bad, huh? Glad to hear he's over the worst of it."

"Basil, Basil, can I go with you and show them around Camp Guardian?" Sarah pleaded. Basil sighed as he glanced at the other campers, most had walked away, but there were a couple who wanted to show them around.

"Well, as head camper, it's my duty to make sure he's well acquainted with the camp and the rules, and as your older brother, it's my job to keep you out of trouble." The twelve-year-old locked her pleading blue eyes on her brother. "Fine, Sarah, you can come."

"Yes!"

"Nima, you too, come on," sighed Basil. Nima smiled as she joined them, and they walked out of the cabin, much to Katherine's delight. Basil talked to them about the rules of the camp, how everything worked, and showed them where everything was, with some tidbits from Sarah and Nima. They even went into explaining demigods and the gods themselves, giving Jack at least something of a history of their father. As the sun approached the horizon, the group made a quick stop at the Apollo cabin to see how Flynn was coming along. Jack rolled his eyes, Flynn was fine, certainly well enough to start flirting with Rapunzel. But Katherine seemed to take no notice of it and rushed to Flynn's side, Jack eventually not far behind.

"So, Princess, how's your star patient?" Jack asked.

Rapunzel raised an eyebrow as she replied, "Doing well enough that he can join us in the pavilion for dinner."

"Great! Just wait until you see the rest of the camp!" Katherine practically squealed. Jack grinned, she may not know who her godly parent was, but his siblings had been doing a great job of making her feel welcome.

"Wow, so you guys got a look at the new place without me? I feel so loved," Flynn stated sarcastically.

Jack rolled his eyes, a grin tugging at his lips, "Well, you should, we love you so much that we decided to brave the new territory to let you know . . ." here Jack paused, and a real smile lit up his face, "we're home, man. We're finally home." Flynn glanced at him in surprise before a smile of relief spread over his face as Jack helped him up. The group meandered over to the dining pavilion, Flynn and Katherine joining the Hermes table. Sarah pretty much chatted Jack's ears off the entire time, pointing out the different tables, until Jack paused her to ask about the lonely girls. One was sitting almost at the very front of the pavilion, her black hair nearly as long as Rapunzel's, and her green eyes seemed like they could shoot electric bolts at anyone across the room. The other girl was sitting at a rather dark table. Her dark curls fell past her shoulders, and he thought that, if she could, her pale, almost white, face would glow. The third one had dark skin, and just like the other two, had black curls cascading down her back.

"Oh, that's Emily Jane, she's a daughter of Zeus. She tends to keep to herself for the most part, though she's hung out with the kids of Aeolus. That's Nyala, a daughter of Poseidon, her mother's from the Caribbean islands, and she can sing as well as any Apollo kid. And that's Catrina, she's a daughter of Hades, she'll sit with us sometimes when she's really lonely. Or when she's curious about the new kid," grinned Sarah as Catrina took her platter and walked over. "Meet my new brother, Jack! He's already fought off two Cyclops and an empousa!" blurted Sarah before Catrina even sat down.

"Sarah! Do you think you could let Catrina have a seat before you start talking her ear off?" asked Basil, joining the table after giving up a portion of his food for Boreas.

Catrina smiled as she pushed back a dark curl, "Oh, that's alright, Basil, she's one of the few people who will actually talk to me."

"You mean no one besides the children of Boreas talk to you?" asked Jack, more out of surprise than meaning for it to be an actual question.

Catrina nodded sadly, "Yeah, I am the daughter of Hades, after all, you know, traveling through shadows, talking to spirits and whatnot. I can get pretty creepy. Boo."

Jack crossed his arms, "You know, if you really want to get over the prejudices about you being creepy, promoting it doesn't really help."

Catrina shrugged, "Hey, at least I'll know who my real friends are."

"Well, there is that, but, still . . ."

"May I have your attention, please," boomed a voice over the gossip. Everyone paused in their dinner and turned to the front of the pavilion, where Manny and Ombric, and an older woman, stood. Ombric continued, "Thank you. We have a few announcements, but first, I would like to introduce you all to the latest additions to our camp. Will the three of you stand when I call your names? Ladies and gentlemen, may I present Jack Overland, Flynn Rider, and Katherine Queen." A loud applause went up as Jack, Flynn, and Katherine rose and smiled. A second later, an audible gasp was heard. The three glanced around in surprise before glancing at the podium for answers. Manny and Ombric were grinning from ear to ear. "It seems that your godly parents have indeed claimed you. Jack is, as we have figured, a son of Boreas." Ombric pointed to something above Jack's head as the children of Boreas let out whoops. He glanced up, and gasped, a glowing snowflake was floating just above his head. He glanced at his friends, and saw the symbol over Flynn's head. "And Flynn is a son of Hermes." The Hermes kids cheered. But Jack saw nothing over Katherine's head and began to wonder when a symbol appeared and grew in brightness.

"A daughter of Calliope," muttered Manny.

The woman nodded,"Then the prophecy has begun to be fulfilled, the pieces are set, Fate is in motion."

"What?" asked Jack. Manny nodded to the woman.

"When shadows arise and darkness falls; Monsters will roam and adventure calls; The team of heroes led by a son of ice and snow; The thief and the writer with him will go; Along with children of Zeus, Hades, and Apollo; And defeat evil in a spectacular show; With the relics gathered from the forest deep; And put all evil back to sleep; Ere night falls on Midsummer's end; Fight well to save both love and friend." Manny gave a nod when the woman finished speaking. Understanding what he wanted, Catrina pushed Jack up to the podium. Flynn and Katherine took some convincing from the kids of Hermes, but they, and Emily Jane, soon joined them. Heaving a sigh, Rapunzel too rose and went to the podium.

Nodding, Ombric spoke, "It seems we have our team together. However, I would like to include one more member to this party. Nicholas St. North, please come forward."

"A son of Hephaestus?" whispered Catrina as a brunette, easily the same height as Flynn, approached the podium.

"Yes, a son of Hephaestus, his expertise with mechanics no doubt will come in handy."

Flynn whispered to Jack, "And help even the odds." He indicated the four girls standing almost directly behind them.

Jack's eyebrow went up, "What? You're finally surrounded by cute girls, and you want to make it more even? But that's not really the problem here." Flynn gave Jack a questioningly glance as Jack moved towards the older men. "So, you bring us to camp, only for us to leave it?"

Manny sighed, "No, Jack, you're not leaving right away, there's a lot that you must learn before you face this rising evil. And I'm sorry that this had to happen, but we didn't know until Katherine was claimed by Calliope that you three were the ones the prophecy spoke of. We were thinking that maybe Basil would lead, but now we know for sure that it has to be you, you're the only one Flynn and Katherine would work with." As if to prove his point, Flynn and Katherine nodded. "Besides, you're going to have to get to know the rest of your team, and especially how to fight monsters. You were lucky this morning because Ombric was there helping you, but he and I will not be able to help you on this journey, you have to lead this one yourself." Jack pursed his lips as if deep in thought, but it didn't take long before he let out a sigh.

"Alright, fine, I'll lead, but there better be something good that comes out of this."

"There will be, the safety of the camp and your friends," Ombric replied solemnly.

Manny turned to the tables, "Which brings us to the announcements, first of all, we'll have a Capture the Flag tournament over the next couple of weeks." A cheer went up at that, indicating that Capture the Flag was one of the camp's favorite activities. "The losing cabin will have kitchen duty for a month." A moan went up at that. "And the winning cabin will be exempt from chores for a month." Another cheer, competition would be hot. "The seven members of the team will be exempt from chores period as they have a mission to train for. That being said, I want you all to help them train, and train well. And the final announcement, as requested by Ivanna, to the persons or persons who vandalized her house, she has forgiven you for this one time, but if you ever do it again, we will find out who you are and justice will be swift, a punishment chosen by Ivanna. Are we clear on this matter?" An unanimous reply in the positive met his ears. "Good, thank you. Return to your dinners, and prepare for the first Capture the Flag tomorrow morning, between Cabins Five and Six! The winner will take on Cabin Nine in the afternoon!" A cheer went up as Cabin Five, Ares, and Cabin Six, Athena, quickly finished their dinner to go plan for the next day. Cabin Nine, Hephaestus, left not long afterwards, leaving the other seventeen cabins to bet on who would win. Jack partook a little of the gambling, but his thoughts were about the prophecy. His mind was still going a million miles a minute before sleep finally overcame him that night.


	2. Group Troubles

Capture the Flag was brutal, but fun, Jack had to admit, it was loads of fun. It was also pretty close, the Athena cabin beating the Boreas cabin by only two points. Of course, the Boreas cabin did have their ice powers and Catrina on their side, giving them something of an advantage over the other cabins, but the Athena cabin beat them by being just a bit smarter and coming up with a perfect, strategic plan to win the final round. The Hypnos cabin lost in a landslide, meaning they had to actually be awake for something.

But despite all of that, Jack and his team had been learning how to fight monsters, and to fight side-by-side as a team, sort of. Katherine and Rapunzel got along fairly well with the others and each other, but would argue from time to time. Catrina and Emily could care less about working together, being practically opposites in everything, and convincing them to work together was a job in and of itself. Nicholas would try to be the peacekeeper of the group, and sometimes came out acting like the leader, pitting him against Flynn who was adamant that Jack remain the leader. Jack often felt frustrated, they really weren't listening to him, so what good was he as a leader? He had no idea how to get them all to cooperate! One particular day it really got on Jack's nerves.

"Hey guys! You want to take a break from all this fighting and go have some fun? There's this place . . ."

"Fun? We don't have time for fun, Jack. Take a look around you, we're preparing for war!" blurted Nicholas.

"Hey, he's the leader, if he wants to have some fun, we'll have some fun! Frankly I'm getting tired of going through the same moves over and over again, I need a break. Count me in, Jack," stated Flynn.

"I would like some fun too, my back's aching from all this training!" blurted Katherine.

"I can give you something to ease off the pain if it's that bad," commented Rapunzel.

"So we can do what, go back to training?" asked Flynn.

"I hope so, we really can't take a break, our enemies won't," stated Nicholas.

"But a break really sounds good right now," muttered Catrina.

Emily scoffed, "Of course it does, you'd avoid any kind of work, just like our illustrious leader."

"I'm not trying to avoid work, I'm trying to keep up your morale! Isn't that part of my job as leader?" blurted Jack.

Flynn crossed his arms, "You see? He is doing his job."

Nicholas scoffed, "A good leader knows we can't just stop at every complaint of pain and go play because he wants to."

"Hey, wait . . ."

"He is doing his job!"

"Flynn, let me handle this . . ."

"Oh he is? Then why does he hide behind you all the time?"

"Guys, can we just chill for a minute?" asked Katherine.

"That's exactly what Jack wants us to do," grumbled Emily.

"Well of course he does, we're fighting amongst ourselves!" blurted Rapunzel.

"Then maybe Manny and Ombric should have picked a different team!" exclaimed Catrina as she glared at Emily. "If anyone expects me to work with her . . ."

"At this rate no one can expect us to save the camp!" shouted Jack as he sent a chilly wind through the group. "All I wanted to do was find a way to get you to work together, but you're all intent on letting everything tear you apart! And in turn, that will allow our enemies to tear the camp apart! And I don't know about you, but this place feels like home, and I want to save it! It's time to make that your priority!"

"Jack . . ." began Katherine, but Jack just had enough and stomped over to the great house where Manny and Ombric lived.

"Make Basil the leader, make Nicholas the leader even, I'm done, I'm quitting!" he shouted. He sank into a chair as his head sank into his hands.

"What is it, Jack?" asked Manny with concern in his voice.

"They won't listen to me! Catrina and Emily refuse to work together, Flynn and Nicholas are practically at each other's throats, Rapunzel and Katherine at least keep it down for for the most part, but they'll argue too! I don't know what to do! How can I be a leader if my team won't even listen to me?" Manny and Ombric glanced at each other as Jack groaned into his hands, and nodded.

"I think it's time your team went on a little adventure," began Manny.

"What? Why? Our last adventure nearly got Flynn killed!"

"But you are better prepared now, and this will be a fairly easy mission, so, you should be able to handle it just fine."

"An easy mission? What would we be doing?"

"You'll go through the forest and find the first relic, a special sword that will help you defeat the darkness."

"Um, OK, and this is the only sword in the forest?"

"Yes, and only the one who leads may use it."

Jack raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

Manny nodded, "Yes, but the whole group needs to be there, there are challenges you each must face if you going to collect the sword."

"Will that be it? No fighting monsters, or running for our lives?"

Manny sighed, "I hope not, the forest is not protected by the boundaries that protect the camp, so monsters can find you there, and if they do show up, it's always been manageable. But I think you and your team needs this. The sword is the easiest to find as both Ombric and I know where it is and what to expect, but not the others."

"Ah, and it's the only thing available for an easy send out too, huh?"

Manny smirked, "Basically, and an easy return. It really isn't that far from camp, you should be able to do it in a day. But if your team is as you've been telling us, then expect two."

Jack scoffed, "No kidding. And I should pick the date and tell them?"

"Ombric and I were thinking a week from today, give them time to prepare."

Jack sighed, "Alright, I'll let them know tomorrow morning. Thanks Manny, Ombric." Jack rose to leave.

"You're welcome. And Jack?"

"Yes?"

Manny laid a hand on his shoulder, "Just be yourself."

"But that would mean acting more childish, and you need an adult to lead."

"Not always, and sometimes, it's that child within us that lights the way. Besides, you were able to be that and practically led Flynn and Katherine out of trouble every time, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did."

"See? You can do this. Good luck."

Jack smiled, "Thanks!"

"Are you sure it's a good idea sending them out to her?" asked Ombric once Jack had left.

"I've already told her to expect them. Don't worry, she does her job well."


	3. Into the Woods

"We have to do what?" exclaimed Flynn.

"We have to go where?" exclaimed Nicholas.

"What are Manny and Ombric thinking? We're nowhere near ready for a mission!" blurted Rapunzel.

"Well, they think we've done enough training to go find the sword, at least. We clearly have a ways to go before we can search for any other relics," remarked Jack as he crossed his arms and eyed each person in turn.

"So, let me get this straight, we have to go through the forest, hope there are no monsters, find the sword, and get back home in one piece?" asked Katherine.

"Basically," stated Jack.

"Basically a suicide," muttered Emily.

"Manny and Ombric said this was the easiest mission, the easiest relic to collect because they know exactly where it is and what to expect. They wouldn't be sending us out to get it if they didn't think that we weren't ready enough."

"Well, we're still far from it."

"OK, we have a week to prepare. Let's get a move on," stated Jack with finality. The group sighed and followed him to the armory. They practiced some more, and pretty hard at that. More than half the time, it turned into a heated competition, but Jack was content with them doing anything at all at this point. Hopefully once they entered the forest, they might, just might consider working together as a team, but that was a pretty big if at this moment. Flynn and Nicholas really went at it with their fencing. If they weren't fencing against Jack or someone else, they were fencing against each other, and they would go for hours at a time, neither one wanting to give in. Rapunzel primarily stuck to the archery practice while Katherine took to throwing knives, both competing to see who would hit the target the most. Emily and Catrina dabbled in both fencing and archery, but mostly kept to honing their powers.

The day finally came for them to enter the forest, after a grueling, slow week of practice and competition. The practice was now over, but only the next level of competition was warming up. They were pretty cordial to each other as they approached the camp's force field, but that was mainly because the entire camp was watching them, with Manny and Ombric both there to send them off.

"You all have come a long way in your practice, and I am happy to hear that you have progressed as much as you have this past week. You will need everything you have to complete this mission, so always keep your wits about you. Do not argue or bicker with each other. You do, and the enemy will clean you off faster than a satyr can chew paper." The campers laughed somewhat at the simile, the imagery was funny, to be sure, but to be finished off by a monster faster than that? That was nowhere near as funny, much less any pleasant to think about. "I am giving complete authority to Jackson Overland, he will make the final decisions, and if any of you go against those orders, you will be severely punished upon your return. Understand?" The group gulped and nodded, Manny was not someone to trifle with. Sure, he was nice and all, but there were consequences for disobeying his orders. "Good. Head for the center of the forest, there you shall come across a large lake. The sword is at the bottom of the lake, and in order to retrieve it, you must get through several obstacles. Teamwork is essential, if you do not work together, you will all die."

"And us as well," mumbled Ombric.

"No pressure, huh?" quipped Flynn as he crossed his arms.

"No, we might just put all the pressure on you just so you can actually get this done," returned Ombric.

Flynn began to smirk, "Nice comeback."

"Thank you, I try, and with you lot, I have to try extra hard."

Flynn whispered to Jack, "I'm beginning to like this guy."

Jack grinned back, "So we just might have to work extra hard to protect this camp, huh?"

"Certainly looks that way."

"Good luck to you all, and may the gods bless this mission."

"Um, thank you," replied Jack, giving a slight bow.

"Be safe, all of you."

Jack smiled softly, "We will. Well, let's go." The group turned and walked into the forest, leaving the safety of the camp.

"Now, if only we could have had a blessing for our lives . . ." muttered Flynn as he stepped up next to Jack.

Jack rolled his eyes, "Yeah, no kidding." He glanced back, Katherine and Rapunzel were fairly close behind them, with Nicholas and Emily not far behind them, and Catrina taking up the rear. He sighed as he turned his head back to the front, at least they weren't arguing with each other, yet. He just had to hope that they could cooperate long enough for him to lead them in, and back out, alive and in one piece preferably. They trudged through the forest, keeping as close to each other as they could, or in a couple of cases, dared to. The forest was getting more and more spooky the further they went, low-hanging branches got caught on many shirts and jackets, forcing the group to unsheath swords to cut their way through. But besides them, there was no sight or sound from any other living creature.

"Everyone, wait!" called out Catrina.

Emily growled, "What is it this time?"

Catrina didn't reply with a snazzy remark, she replied with a foreboding tone, "Listen, what do you hear?" Everyone paused and listened.

Flynn shrugged, "I'm not hearing anything. Did you hear something?"

"No, that's the point, you should be hearing a lot of insect this time of year."

"And do you know that? Have you been shadow-traveling into the forest?"

"And your point is? It's none of your concern if I set out to find some peace and quiet, but right now, believe me when I say this, something is wrong, very very wrong." Everyone stopped and glanced at each other worriedly. Now that Catrina had mentioned it, she was right, there were no signs or sounds of insects, squirrels, or birds.

"Alright everyone, stay close, this just might be the first test to get to the lake." The others nodded at Jack's suggestion, and began to huddle a little closer than they had been ten minutes ago.

"So, anything in particular we should be looking for . . ."

"Not now, Flynn, I'm concentrating on keeping an eye out for anything that would say trap."

"But didn't the old man tell you anything about the traps?"

"He only said that there were some, not where exactly, or what to look for, so, everyone, be careful. And keep a sharp eye out for anything," ordered Jack. The group began to get closer together as the eerie silence of the forest seemed to close in around them. They walked forward somewhat slowly and cautiously, weapons drawn. They glanced around as they pressed forward, but nothing seemed to show up.

"OK, so, maybe all of the traps are at the lake shore?" ventured Flynn.

"Maybe, Nicholas, I'm going to need your expertise on this."

"What?" exclaimed both Flynn and Nicholas.

Jack looked Nicholas in the eye, "Yes, your dad is Hephaestus, right?" Nicholas nodded. "So, correct me if I'm wrong, but your dad is great at building traps, right?"

Nicholas smirked, "You got it. So, if you don't mind," he glanced at Flynn, "I'll need to take the lead."

Jack nodded, "Of course." He stepped aside and let Nicholas take the lead.

"Be ready to stop at a moment's notice," stated Nicholas.

"OK," chorused the group before following him. Rapunzel and Katherine got even closer to Flynn and Jack, with Emily and Catrina trying to stay as close to the group as possible without getting too close to each other. Nicholas went rather slowly, but no one complained, they understood that he had to scrutinize every single thing before declaring it safe to cross.

"Halt! I think we've come across our first trap." The others crowded around him.

"Where?" asked Jack. Nicholas pointed at a thin string, something Jack would have easily walked into.

"Nice catch," muttered Flynn in awe.

"Thank you, but like Jack said, my dad's kind of the expert on these things."

"Right, everyone, step over the string very carefully."

"No, wait."

"What?"

"Something's not right. A piece of string is a very common tool in activating traps, for something like this, there should be something else, something far more discreet. Let me check this area completely, just to be on the safe side. None of you make a move, or a sound."

"OK," whispered the group. Nicholas nodded and stepped over the string carefully. He made sure he was clear of the string before continuing his investigation. They watched and waited for what seemed like hours as Nicholas carefully went over every square inch of the forest floor.

"Have you found anything?" whispered Flynn.

"It's only been a couple of minutes! And don't say another word until I say so, we don't know if there's anything that can be set off by sound!" Nicholas whispered back.

"Oh, sorry."

"Sh!" The girls all put their fingers to their lips, making Flynn somewhat annoyed. He glanced at Jack, who simply shook his head as if to say, not now, dude. Flynn let out a huff and sat against a tree. A few more minutes passed, and Nicholas continued his search, which led him out of sight of the others.

"Hey, Nick? Nicholas!" called out Jack when they couldn't see him. "Don't go far from the group!"

"Jack!" A soft twang reached his ears and he glanced down in shock, but he wasn't touching the string. A shadowy tentacle was, and it was already retreating back into the forest. A yelp from Flynn caused him to turn around, just in time to see his friend being swallowed up by the tree.

"Flynn!"

"Jack!" shrieked Rapunzel. The girls were grabbed by vines and dragged to a tree where they got swallowed up.

"No!" shouted Jack as he let loose a stream of ice at the trees. Malicious laughter met his ears.

"The tree didn't eat up your friends. I just separated you, that's all, making it easier for me to take you out." Jack swiveled around, trying to find the source of the voice, but a vine grabbed him and tossed him into a tree.


End file.
